The Minister of Justice himself spoke of “femicide”.
A man shot his ex-wife in the head this Tuesday at the Montpellier judicial court (Hérault).
The individual then killed himself with the same weapon.
Here is what we know about the case.
Two deaths
A man armed with a pistol killed his ex-wife, aged 66, this Tuesday, early in the afternoon in front of the Montpellier judicial court.
After firing, the 72-year-old man turned the gun towards himself to commit suicide.
Law enforcement officers were deployed in large numbers to secure the area, indicated the Hérault prefecture.
“We heard two shots,” a witness described to Midi Libre.
Everyone lay on the ground in the courtrooms as well as in the room of the lost steps.
We thought it was an attack.
It's a shock.
We're still shaking.
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A femicide followed by suicide
The authorities directly ruled out the possibility of terrorism in favor of femicide followed by suicide.
According to prosecutor Fabrice Bélargent, who gave a press conference in the afternoon, the family affairs judge had summoned the two individuals “for the purposes of liquidating their property interests following their divorce in 2016”.
“The persons concerned were not summoned to court for domestic violence proceedings,” he clarified.
The prosecutor added that there were “no ongoing proceedings regarding violence within the couple nor a protection order”.
This is "a priori a woman who would have been the victim of gunshots from her husband, who would have committed suicide behind", had earlier explained a police official in Montpellier, interviewed while the death of the two people was not yet confirmed.
Dupond-Moretti “horrified”
The prefect of Hérault, François-Xavier Lauch, visited the site, while the public prosecutor held a press briefing.
“Horrified by the feminicide which took place in front of the Montpellier court this afternoon,” lamented the Minister of Justice Éric Dupond-Moretti on X. My thoughts are with the victim and her loved ones.
All my support to the court staff.
The psychological support unit is triggered.
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The mayor of Montpellier also reacted on